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Pussy Riot Members to Appear at Amnesty International Concert

Two recently-released members of the Russian activist punk band are scheduled to address concert attendees at this year’s Amnesty International Concert (February 5) which promises performances by The Flaming Lips, Imagine Dragons and others. Could they have found more appropriate speakers?

Human rights watch groups have been united for the past year in contempt for the Russian government’s prosecution and jailing of three of the group’s members in response to their “punk prayer” in 2012. Though Yekaterina Samsutsevich was released after having her sentence suspended, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were left with two year prison sentences. Their terms were marked by hunger strikes and declarations of solidarity by fellow musicians, finally ending with the passing of a new amnesty bill last month.

Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina have recently been announced as speakers for the upcoming Amnesty International Concert which will take place February 5 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The two activists released a joint statement:

We are happy to support Amnesty International’s work on behalf of human rights and political prisoners. We, more than anyone, understand how important Amnesty’s work is in connecting activists to prisoners… A month ago we were freed from Russian prison camps. We will never forget what it’s like to be in prison after a political conviction. We have vowed to continue helping those who remain behind bars and we hope to see you all at the Amnesty International concert on February 5th in Brooklyn!